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classical mechanics

...line at constant speed. Without any loss of generality, one can imagine observing the system from a frame of reference moving along with that same speed and direction. This is sometimes called the centre-of-mass frame. In this frame, the momentum of the two-body system—i.e., the constant in equation (51)—is equal to zero. Writing each of the
v’s as the...

A collision between two bodies can always be described in a frame of reference in which the total momentum is zero. This is the centre-of-mass (or centre-of-momentum) frame mentioned earlier. Then, for example, in the collision between two bodies of the same mass discussed above, the two bodies always have equal and opposite velocities, as shown in Figure 14. It should be noted that, in this...

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